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Hi and Cheers

I think John Fashanu would take this job

Look what I fink, the lads are niot a longer African powderhouse. They were in the 90's but not now.

You have to look at the African nations, they are the teams who will never becopme a world power, they are like countires outside of the FIFA top 10.

Conurties like this they come good when they have 5 or 6 great players all reach a peak together. This is like Cameroun in 1990, the Zaire lads who joke in the 70's, Senegal in 20002.

But this is not to say it is a africa thing, it is just a worldwide phenomenoa. Like Croatia i 1998, 11 years earlier the yugoslavia under 20 team won the world championship consisiting mainly of the fellas who would later feature for the croats in france

Poland in 1974. South Korer in 2002. Unless you are a nation who is produce a team of great players each generation, you will only see this typ of theng.

Nigeria had their best in 1994-1998, 2 good world cup performances and a Olympic cup yields this for. But now they have a poor squad and would luck to make past a win at next years finals. The coaches know this and won't touch.

Any of the African teams that makes it out of the group stage in South Africa should pat themselves on the back for a job well done.
The problems of all the African nations stem from corruption in the football federations to the fact that African players find it hard to respect any coach except the skin is white.
Shehata was a great Egyptian player and has developed into a great coach but if he thinks he can tame the Nigerian players he is in for a rude awakening.
Despite his knowledge of African football the players will sabotage his efforts and he will end up being disgraced out of the place like Amodu.

Warning to all African countries (infact to any national team searching for a new manager):

HANDS OFF GIOVANNI TRAPPATONI!!!!

He used to be Italian but he’s Irish now!! He’s going knowhere!!

At 1. No longer an African powderhouse?

Anyway, I think Nigeria still possesses enough good players to be doing better. Definite underachievers.

#4. Subterranean

Lokk what crawled out, a big powerful team, who is can beating the rest with easily. dufuslike Germany is a european version, brazil a south american

the trapp would nverr take the nigerians post, he is an ireland

@#4
Nigeria possess players who actually feel they are better than they
really are.
These players feel they only have to stroll onto the pitch and their opponents should lie down and allow them to walk over them.
Of course in modern football this is not going to happen.The Nigerian team,theNigerian football federation and the Nigerian players are living in the past. 1993-1998 was actually the last time Nigeria had a formidable national team.
What they have now is a joke.

Tell you what, I think Colombia might be the biggest South American Powderhouse.

Great blog as always Piers.

Brilliant piece on Nigeria and the Ivory coast. At the ANC in Angola, Nigeria played poorly but won the bronze - that being a pretty result when compared to the likes of Ivory Coast, Algeria, Tunisia and Cameroon. I agree with you that demoting Amodu at this stage is a strategic blunder and a recipe for failure.

Amodu should be allowed to take the team to the world cup. The problem with Nigerian football has always been unneccessary interference and bizarre planning on the part of the football federation. Team selection is prejudiced whilst the established "big name" players are enforced on the coach irrespective of their current form.

What Nigeria needs at this time is to strengthen the coaching staff (a technical advisor, Amodu and his aides) for the world cup. Post world cup, there should be a branch and root overhaul of Nigeria football. From the NFF structures, coaching structures, team philosophy and procedure for rejuvinating aging teams. The ideal situation would be to emulate England after the Euro 2008 debacle.

@ #1
ur comment just shows how naive you are about african football..african teams can become a football powerhouse..but to achieve that it goes deeeper than having players plying their trade in the tops leagues of the world.football is a money game,not only ftball it has to be said..any sport.am african,i grew up in africa,i was mad about football,,thats the only thing i wanted to do but my parents never supported me to pursue football as a career becos they were scared if i get injured and not make it before i made it outside africa i wuld have nothing to fall back on.football is only fruitful for africans if they make it outside africa apart from west afrcan and north african teams & south africa ofcourse,their set up is quite professional other than football is just a hobby

whats plaguing african football is lack of funds & when a little funds is available corruption creeps in..theres no infrastructure..in most countries there are no professional leagues let alone leagues that are managed properly without match fixings,lacks organistion..theres a deep deep problem in african football.football is the biggest sport in africa,majority of kids growing up only play or watch football cos its the easiest thing to do,,they cant afford to play tennis,cricket,hockey or basketball,these are all expensive sports,football is the only game we kno and understand but even in football am sure its the same in most african countries,,young kids cant even afford to buy a ball,football boots,shin guard etc.if governments made these things easily available from grassroots levels and a decent run football programme from the ages of 10 or 12 and kids grow up in that environment africa will be producing superstars every year.

Piers, how do you say that the coaching job in Nigeria is one of football's hottest job. No one even wants to come and coach the super eagles. All the people linked so far have signed for someone else like Hiddink or have said NO - Like Trappatoni
Bring in Egypt in place for Nigeria for the world cup. Let this be a lesson for the NFF - worlds worst managed sporting organisation period!

On the matter of corruption in African football,what do you say in a situation where a coach of a national team agrees to a contract of one million dollars a month and then accepts to share half of this money with officials of the football federation as bribes?
It happens in Africa all the time.
I could tell you stories that would make your ears stand on end,infact I could mention names,but the mods would yank my post off,so I will keep these facts to myself,but I am sure Mr Edwards has heard of these things if actually you have been covering African football for as long as you claim.

Nigeria no longer a Powerpouse ? You have to wonder what some folks drink before posting :) If the following stats dont paint a picture of a powerhouese then I dont know what does.Let see:

WCQ:
Best Qualification Record for the WC in Africa besting teams like Tunisa and South Africa along the way conceding the fewest amount of Goals in the process .
ANC:
Finalists in 2000 (losing on dubious pk's decision)
3rd place in 2002, 2004,2006 and 2010
Olympics:
Quarter Finalists in 2000,
Silver Medalists in 2008
U-20 WC
Silver Medal in 2005
U-17 WC
Silver in 2001
Winners in 2007
Silver in 2009

Nigeria's problem is a problem that many countries will like to have IE too much talent thus a lack of a core 11 hence an inability to gel. All the coaching changes and the ensuing lack of continuity havent helped either.

For some persective, Of the silver medal team that went to the Olympics only Odemwengie, Apam, Kaita,Nsofor and Ogbuke made the recent ANC team . Aiyegbeni, Martins, Ordiah and Shittu had limited or zero roles during the WCQ but made the ANC Team while several WCQ players such as Adeleye, Olufemi, Akpala, Eneramo, Ikechuwku, Utaka etc were dropped for injury or other reasons for the ANC

These are all players that would pretty much walk into any other African Team. Yets some claim Nigeria is no longer a Powerhouse ..I laugh

@green_manc

If Giovanni Trappatoni is truly green and loves Guinness, then he will be welcomed in Nigeria. Anyway, he says he doesn't want the job – not that the Nigerians are asking.

The current Nigerian Super Eagles is a mediocre team; and partly caused by those Super Eagles players in the English Premier league -- where football skill (or “doing tricks” as commentators often call it) seems to be frowned upon by managers except in Arsenal and ManU. English football with its kick-and-chase style of play is slowly poisoning African football. If you watch the Fulham vs Shakhtar Donetsk game, you would understand what I am on about. Fulham was given a lesson in football and Etuhu couldn't wait to swap shirts and hug a far superior player, who is not even in his national team.

Any African player in the EFL should be bared from their national team -- before they totally destroy the African style of playing. All these Nigerian players had came to the EPL better than what they are now -- they are shadows of their former selves. Now why is that? In the African Nations Cup (ANC), very rarely did we see dribbling, attacking, and skill – they have all disappeared from the African game. Indeed it was the worst ANC I ever saw.

Anyone who thinks that the players that represented Nigeria in the ANC are good players is either extremely, but sadly, being patriotic or in denial. Only local players in the Nigerian football league can save Nigeria some face in the World Cup.

8. At 4:45pm on 19 Feb 2010, manccanary wrote:
Tell you what, I think Colombia might be the biggest South American Powderhouse.

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Think the Peruvians may disagree with you there.....

9. At 5:14pm on 19 Feb 2010, Orkaambe wrote:

What Nigeria needs at this time is to strengthen the coaching staff (a technical advisor, Amodu and his aides) for the world cup. Post world cup, there should be a branch and root overhaul of Nigeria football. From the NFF structures, coaching structures, team philosophy and procedure for rejuvinating aging teams. The ideal situation would be to emulate England after the Euro 2008 debacle
_________________________________________________________________________

I only took a sample of what you wrote......errrm after the debacle of Euro 2008, Brian Barwick didnt restructure English football, didnt strengthen the existing coaching setup....He sacked the whole lot from Steve McLaren to Terry Venables. Fabio and Franco came in, so yeah if NFA wants to emulate the FA, sack the whole lot.

In other news, the end of Jay-Jay spelled the end for Nigeria. They are a spent force.

these super eagles are trying in their capacity.this new coach should try and get some new legs who can have something to deliver.the nff should also give this new coach achance to deliver and not to dictate to him

In reality most football followers will think that Nigeria with their current coach issue will not do well at the mudial. First and foremost i will blame the FA for not knowing that world cup is won by gang who have perfect understanding of each others Samsom siasia would have been the best replacement as bulk of the squad came from him but since the FA do not like him bicos of his strong charater Hassan shahatta should be given the mandate to work with Amodu if not the team will not fly despite their potential i pray the FA do the right thing at the right time i still have strong believe that an Africa team will be at the final

After reading your blog Mr piers & some comment made from some few individual,i decided to join in. I think it's an intersted theme: The real fact is that any nigerian that follow nigeria football knows the real problem lies with the curropt manegement of so called "NFA". Till something is done about that, i'm afried super eagle will never grow & continoue to be unachieve...the same goes to other African big team.

"You might have thought African teams would have learned the lessons from the 2006 World Cup. Just four months before that tournament began in Germany, disbelief reigned as Togo (always Togo, it seems) fired their coach."

Why not say, "You might have thought Nigeria would have learned...." Perhaps I have not been following the news, but I don't think any of the following teams: South Africa, Algeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire has fired their coach. Or is this simply the case of thinking Africa is a country?

i have already made comment,but it's not in the blog. why?

Of course the Super Eagles remain a powerhouse in A

Of course the Super Eagles remain a powerhouse in Africa. Unfortunately instead of being number 1 like they were a dozen years ago they are at best 5 or 6 with Egypt, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Cameroun having clearly superior teams. I doubt too many Nigerian players could "walk" into those teams as one person has said. The new coach does NOT have a super-talented squad to work with; there has been too much self-delusion by Nigerians regarding this fact. The present squad could not lace the boots of Okocha,Oliseh,Amokachi, et al. I'm sure that if they did have a super-talented squad those high-profile coaches would not have turned them down. Fact is the Super eagles have not under-achieved lately; their performances have reflected the calibre of their squad. A new great generation is needed.

To 20: "Why not say, "You might have thought Nigeria would have learned...." Perhaps I have not been following the news, but I don't think any of the following teams: South Africa, Algeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire has fired their coach. Or is this simply the case of thinking Africa is a country?"

Togo set the example and in fact, it has been reported Cote D'Ivoire did fire their coach and brought in the Belgian Giresse. Also, I believe such things have happened in the past before, but two examples in the last 4 years is enough for me.

Clement Westerhof largely brought the country up to snuff per 1989-1995 more or less. That is a long time to be coaching Nigeria.

I believe, Nigeria's best solution is that if it can not hire the best and that was Hiddink, it might be best to sink or swim with their home coaches, maybe bring in advisors, a consortium, Amodu says he is open to that.

But if Shehata appears to be the best man and an announcement supposedly on who the new coach will be is to be made about February 28th, then go with Shehata. He may be the answer.

I honestly think that respecting the coach is a bit of the problem the way I don't think McClaren was really respected and now he's doing well with the Dutch Team FC Twente. I believe I read some Nigerian players even were asking for a private jet, all of this. Maybe they had good reasons but I think this is a bit a part of their problem down there, respecting the coach. Amodu has indeed done well enough in many people's eyes. I'd bring in advisors but will be with the team no matter what.

To 24:
Togo is the case that Piers Edwards hopes that "African" countries would have learned from. There will be 6 African countries at the world cup this year. Only one of them has fired their coach. The Ivory Coast has not fired their coach. So is it possible that African countries did in fact learn from the Togo experience of four years ago? Is it possible that only Nigeria did not learn the lesson? I still contend that it is not right to generalize a problem in one or two countries to a whole continent of 53 countries.

Piers Edwards' blog is titled "Can any man tame the Super Eagles?" The Super Eagles represent only one country in Africa, Nigeria. If the Nigerian team has a coaching problem, it does not mean 52 other countries have a coaching problem. Or at least it does not mean 5 other African countries that are going to the World Cup have the same coaching problem. Simple and klaar!

To #25: The status of the Ivory Coast coach is unclear but AFP has written a story that Gerets is the new coach. So, indeed, we have the fog that accompanies these stories, it is not clear whether the coaching change has been made but it has definitely been reported on Feb. 12.

"ABIDJAN — Former Belgian defender Eric Gerets is set to take over as coach of World Cup qualifiers Ivory Coast, local newspapers reported Friday.

Ivory Coast fired their current coach, the Bosnian former Yugoslav international Vahid Halilhodzic, after their nightmare at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola last month." - AFP

To Number 13 (mad dog)
Please allow me to start this little piece by saying you are full of crap ( not in a rude way), so if you are asked to name potential football super powers and you will include Nigeria?. they won bronze and so what, my mom is Nigerian, but i don't support the super chickens, i support either the united states where i was born or Trinidad and Tobago where am from originally. You want your darling team to come back into the footballing map, start with the football federation, they are bunch of thieves, they know if their is a foreign coach there, he won't resort to bribery and corruption so they want some one like amodu (stupid coach that plays 3 defensive midfielders in a match) to be there because he loves the money passing through hands too. Nigeria is going no where in the world cup, with who?Old Kanu?,lame yakubu? who? you guys ain't got nothing, deal with it.

Kfresh:
You Nigerian Mother ought to have taught you some manners and obviously failed to teach you to comprehend before responding to what you read

The crap you wrote amounts to little more than the nonsense that often passes for anlysis from emotional fans . Statistics dont lie hence the reason why Nigeria is ALWAYS ranked by FIFA among the top three AFrican Teams

The same FA you characterize as corrupt were in charge when we took Silver at the Olympics and took place at the ANC. They were corrupt when we took ANC 94 an theye were corrupt when we stormed USA 94. As long as I have been alive the Nigerian FA has ben deemed corrupt so your omments are neither here nor there as far as this discussion go . So what will you say about the FA's of the teams we surpassed?

Until you can come up with something intelligent butressed with empirical facts to explain why Nigeria is no longer a soccer powerhouse beyound the same old banal predictable demagoguery and hyperbole responding to you furthr will be a waste of time .

The fact of the matter is there are lors of countries whom would love to hav Nigerias soccer record. Th facts speak for thmselves

Ghanaboy53 wrote:
Of course the Super Eagles remain a powerhouse in Africa. Unfortunately instead of being number 1 like they were a dozen years ago they are at best 5 or 6 with Egypt, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Cameroun having clearly superior teams. I doubt too many Nigerian players could "walk" into those teams as one person has said. The new coach does NOT have a super-talented squad to work with; there has been too much self-delusion by Nigerians regarding this fact. The present squad could not lace the boots of Okocha,Oliseh,Amokachi, et al. I'm sure that if they did have a super-talented squad those high-profile coaches would not have turned them down. Fact is the Super eagles have not under-achieved lately; their performances have reflected the calibre of their squad. A new great generation is needed.


Fact is those "less than talented" SuperEagles kept your Ghanaian Boys in their half prettymuch the entire game .Ghana's 1-0, agaisnt the run of play victory nowithstanding. If that's not an endorseemnt of Nigerias superior talent agaisn Ghana's I dont know what is

Go ask your Ghanaian players if they would like to play the Super Eagles agaisn and see what they will tell you . You should have seen your bench literalls Praying in Tongues and Shaking in their boots as the Nigerians pressed for the Equalizer but hey I guess you earned your bragging rights becauee at the end of the days it'sresults that count.

Coaches turn Nigeria down because it is too much of a pressure cooker. Ipersoanlly would turn them down too especially with empty headed far weather fans like KFRESH

Super Eagles are fine and no matter how this World Cup turns out, they should not let it bother them as to long range goals, honestly, Double winner France with a Euro and World Cup under their belt did not score a goal in 2002 and went out, not only that, but Argentina did not advance either though Pele said he thought they actually played good football with which I agree.

Also, I know Fifa rankings are not everyone's cup of tea but be that as it may, Nigeria up themselves to #15, only Egypt at #10 are higher. Now, you can say Ghana defeated them and Ghana is only at #27 I believe. The fact is is that in the long range of Fifa rankings, this must mean Nigeria is performing well, least of all, getting by France I believe in a friendly.

Yes, the last gentleman is right, the job is a pressure cooker and not only that, apparently there is quite a bit of red tape. I think they will find someone who can do an adequate job but all the same, chalk it up to experience.

The sacking of Amodu is a divisive issue in Nigeria; however, I think it is a necessary evil. When Amodu was in charge, the NFF boss, Sani Lulu, and his supporters always argued that he (the coach) had only lost one competitive game, and that was in the semi-final of Nations’ Cup of 2002. They, also, maintained that since he was getting the wins he should stay on. This is why he was given the mandate of taking us to the semi-finals in Angola.

Those who were and are still against Amodu, like myself, argue that he lacks the needed tactics and techniques of the game. He had very awful player selection. Questions were always asked why Yakubu, Yobo, who proved ineffective, were allowed to play. There was much wonder why aging Nwankwo should be called up in the first place at the detriment of younger and more agile players. He is lazy. This is why he refused to take any players from the local league because, according to him, the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) is not good enough. If the local league and the local players are not good enough, this means that he as a local coach falls short of being good. He depended mainly on luck. Yes, luck is important, but credible and class performance should come first. We were proved right with the just concluded Nations’ Cup. Let us not forget that he won against less formidable sides en route to Angola and to South Africa. We could not bit Egypt (a more formidable side) not forgetting that they had not bitten us since the 1950’s. We struggled against Zambia, and we lost to Ghana with a young and relatively inexperienced side in comparison to the Super Eagles.

Yes, Amodu got where his employers (the NFF) wanted to get (the semi-finals) and another third-place finish. Nigerians need a team that plays impressive games. We prefer to lose gallantly like in US 1994 than a win full of mediocrity. Changing Amodu before the world cup, though how stupid it may seem, remains the best thing for Nigerian football and for the fans. This is so because with his coaching style, we cannot stand Argentina with their stars, Greece with a good defensive play and South Korea with fast and good pace playing system. My choice of coach, meanwhile, is not Hassan Shehatta. I do not endorse Peter Taylor. Thank God he is unavailable. Hiddink would have been the type of coach we need, but I know the NFF would not want him because they may find him too strict and uncompromising. Let me end by saying that Super Eagles without Amodu will perform very credibly should the NFF give a free-hand to whoever they hire.

@Piers Edwards#32
“And yes, while Nigeria's golden period was definitely the 1990s...the current squad is punching well below its weight."

I am sorry, but there is nothing above that “weight”. The current Super Eagles (SE) squad is a lightweight, and not even a '60 day steroid plan' will make them middleweight.

Have you seen their passing, dribbling, and ball control skills. Gosh! They cannot even put three passes together without giving the ball away – like Arsenal in George Graham days.

Stop being diplomatic and call it as it is: Everyone is overlooking the fact that the current SE squad is crap and instead blaming the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and the clueless Amodu – albeit rightly so --, but the players are mediocre.

The World Cup is a competition of Heavyweights; what chance has a lightweight (or Welterweight on steroid ) SE got against a Heavyweight like Argentina? The only solution is to recruit players from the Nigerian local league.

It would be 3 pages or more back in the sports webpages but I thought I read at the Vanguard newspaper that the NFF was actually picking the players and then Amodu had to mold them into the team. That would seem to be difficult for any coach.

I would like to comment here that Egypt was not the first African country to beat Italy. Way back in 1988, Zambia did it. Led by Kalusha Bwalya — the greatest Zambian player ever — the Chipolopolo proved that African national teams could hold their own on the world’s stage. The Azzuris were demolished 4-0 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Tragically, many of the stars of that game died in a plane crash on 27 April 1993. This is just to set the record straight.

@Piers Edwards#32
“And yes, while Nigeria's golden period was definitely the 1990s...the current squad is punching well below its weight."

Thanks , I tend to agree with you. I believe the problem more than anything else is the lack of continuity in coaching

Many forget that it took 3 nations cups IE Algiers 90, Senegal 92 and Tunisia 94 with Westerhoff before the Golden Age players got it right. Keep in mind that the likes of Yekini had been playing for Nigeria since 84 or thereabot before finally peaking at ANC 94

Their record was really no different from that of the current genration otherwise

@Maddog,Am not typing this blog with a dictionary in hand looking up words, you big words don't move and another fact it has nothing to do with what we are discussing here, What we are saying (if you forgot already) 1.If the Nigerian soccer(football) organization is still the way it is right now, guys can't do squat in any competition, so don't dream of been a football superpower anytime soon, 2. All those facts u raised about achievements, can you please name the coaches then. (i bet you no indigenous coach), what happened in France 98 with a local chief who said he is a coach, maybe you guys thought it was some cultural display, it's game time dude, grow up. so first you FA needs a reshuffling, and some lazy players ditched, then a well experienced tactician employed, then you can think of getting up there in Africa before day dreaming about been a world power in soccer (football).
Finally, i think my mom taught me well but not comprehend with stupid opinions like yours, but am guessing your own mom didn't teach you well cos you won't come in here and start talking out your A@$s. So why don't you go back to your dictionary, look up some more words that you can't even define off-head, quit been on the side of a stupid FA that has no plans of changing their game plans. So when you have something reasonable to contribute to this blog, please don't hesitate to type away, cos you are an L.D.

Firstly,I think it's high time we stopped calling the Nigerian Team the 'Super Eagles'. The time has finally for the team to be referred back to being the 'Green Eagles'. This I reckon is for the best because, (1): there's absolutely nothing 'super' about the bunch of lads in the team right now
(2): Maybe by being called 'super' the boys actually do feel they can just walk over any team.
I think every football loving fan is tired of being let-down by the supposedly 'powerhouse' of African football.

I totally agree with you, Piers, concerning the timing of the dismissal of Amodu and it's such a shame that, whereas the dismissal was right, it should have been done immediately after the WCQs. I had actually envisaged the current situation would be the NFF's course of action and to be honest, it a BIG shame to the entire continent bcos we now have the Ivoriens joining the bandwagon. I believed it was just glaring (during the WCQ)that Amodu wasnt cut for the 'hot-sit'. Sacking him after the WCQs,(which,if my memory serves me correctly, ended early November or mid-Novemember),and getting in a credible,well reputed manager immediately, would have provided the new manager ample time to know his players better during the course of the ANC.Consequently, rather than have less than a month to assess the players, he would have had the entire ANC plus 2additional months to further monitor his Europe-based players and as a result, have a better chance of taking his own type of players to the World Cup. This would have saved us a disgraceful outing at the mundial which, if i must confess, i foresee happening.

Kfresh:

Your laughable assertion that no indigenous coach was in charge of the teams in question beggars belief and proves that in trying to punch above your weight cLass , you are venturing into territory that you are WHOLLY ignorant of, Which explains your apparent preference for ad-hominem discourse . Furthermore your reference to 98 clearly shows taht you are totally offpoint and simply talking from the standpoint of one with an Anti-Nigerian Chip on his shoulder and nothing more.

Suffice to say I have no thirst for Ad-Hominem discourse which is typically the standard refuge for intellectual ligthweights. So I ask again, read the points I made , make an effort to comprehend and then feel at liberty to provide a cogent, half way intelligent response.

Illogical, emotional outsbursts are a poor substitute for reasoned responses they simply fail to mask your readily apparent deficiencies.



All the best

DebbieSado wrote:
Firstly,I think it's high time we stopped calling the Nigerian Team the 'Super Eagles'. The time has finally for the team to be referred back to being the 'Green Eagles'. This I reckon is for the best because, (1): there's absolutely nothing 'super' about the bunch of lads in the team right now
(2): Maybe by being called 'super' the boys actually do feel they can just walk over any team.
I think every football loving fan is tired of being let-down by the supposedly 'powerhouse' of African football.
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SIR

Actually in my many years of following the Super Eagles I have NEVER heard a sngle one of the players express that they think they can walk over any team. Matter of fact when Amodu set REALISTIC expectations of an ANC semi final target he was roundly villified by the fans and the media for supposedly setting targets too low.

The problem with Nigerian soccer lies largely with Fans. We put too much Psychological Pressure on our Players and then wonder why they choke.

All our opponents at the just concluded ANC played agaisnt Nigeria with ZERO pressure. Win or lose their fans still had their back . But not so with Nigeria where talk of firing the coach dominated the airwaves throughout the tournamnent. No team can play well under such intense psychological pressure . This is precisely why good teams like France choked in 2002 and Brazil likewise choked in 2006 .

It's time Nigerians fans started supporting our players unconditionally instead of throwing out ephithets and insults and firing the coach everytime results dont go our way

STEVEMADDOG:

Fair enough, Nigeria fans should have the back of the team. However,one must put into cognisant the immense heartache this team has administered on Nigeria soccer fans...and for sooo long now,if i may add.

Personally, i believe individually,the guys are good(tho,to be honest, maybe not as good as i used to think), however, the problem that persist within the team for the past few years or so is a tactical problem. I mean, all any one with the slightest soccer intelligence had to do was watch the Kenya WCQ match. Nothing tactical in that game at all!!!

With respect to my quote "feel they can just walk over any team",i would believe u'd know i was only being figurative and, to buttress my point in the quote,i believe that, on any day this guys should try to rise above woteva adversities they could face from thier oppositions on the day.They just seem to have this lackadaisical attitude sometimes on the field of play.Now, this is something a manager should pick up on while sitting on the bench and that leads to my main qualms with the team. The problem the team has is MANAGERIAL. very simple and direct. I know for a fact that, the boys will perform on any day,any time with the right man behind them. This is why i said in my earlier post that Amodu should have been replaced right at the end of the WCQs cos it was evident to me that he lack the tactical impetus to drive the team forward. Surely, even you wouldnt believe an Amodu-led Nigerian Team would have done anything to make u proud at the Mundial. So, as i said, that is my qualms with the team just has i had from the moment i heard Berti Vogts was appointed too.they just dont cut it.so, mine is not about being against an indigenious coach or woteva.

And on a lighter note, u and Kfresh gotta go on easy with each other.Y'all just have difference in opinions dats all.

@STEVEMADDOG..I'm disappointed you turned my comment into a Ghana vs Nigeria thing. Fact is the full-strength Super Eagles were expected to beat a less-than-half-strength Black Stars reliant on the U-20 players but couldn't.I never said they were "talent-less" but a more talented team would probably not have lost that game.
I have actually admired good Super Eagles teams from the 1970's teams of Chukwu, Okala, Odegbami, Amosiemaka, etc. to the 1990's teams of Okocha, Oliseh, Amokachi, Kanu etc. Those were very good teams. All I am saying is that the current squad cannot match that talent and I doubt any coach can substantially improve the team until new world-class talent is discovered. Currently there is no genuine world-class player in the squad, not even Mikel. Also check out Nigeria's recent results against the four teams I mentioned. I am very sure the Super Eagles will eventually soar again but I very much doubt if the present squad is the solution.

@Maddog,
You must have a pathetic life away from your computer, i don't need to comprehend you opinion, who was the coach that took Nigeria to France 98, and what round did Nigeria got to?(local coach, 1st round with no showings) which coach took Nigeria to USA 94 and what round did Nigeria go to?(2nd round with good and interesting football with a foreign coach). Now let me make it clear to you, you want me to comprehend all the sh@#t you are writing, you are all about how the super chicken (sorry super eagles according to you) are going to be superpowers in world football and all their accomplishment so far, and i am all about the same thing, but am saying if they keep on shoving their fate onto the hands of Nigerian local coaches and always looking at faces or past records of some tired old players they won't even be considered superpowers in African football. Again, the football federation needs reshuffling, they are all corrupted, (who am i kidding,Nigeria as a whole is all messed up), they need to fire some people, even jail some to teach the incoming people some lessons, after that then get a foreign coach who knows what he is doing, not some local coach like Amodu, he was the former coach of a club called Bcc lions, thats the only good experience he had, and since he's been the coach what have Nigeria achieved, nothing! Go through the past records, has a local coach ever won a trophy with the super chickens, no!. start from 1980 to 96 which was the period they actually won something, it was all foreign coach that did it. So grow up, i know you are been patriotic about you dear beloved super chickens (pity).

Sorry point of correction from my post, i intend to say Korea / japan 2002, it was a local coach (the guy with weird scars on his face) and they went out in the first round, usa94, France 98 was all foreign coaches and they went beyond the first round.

Well, this forum I mean blog should open up again in discussion since this Lars Lagerback has been made the coach of Nigeria according to the ±«Óătv sport pages, shock selection I saw in another article. I'm not acquainted with him nearly at all but if he won out selection over the other candidates, Sven, Hoddle, Metsu, he must be good and I see he does have a good listing of credentials.

They employed someone whom am not sure has been in active duty in a long time, what are they really thinking? He will be easy to be corrupted or intimidated.

Also, it deserves to be said and it sounds like a bad decision imho, that Ivory Coast did let go of their coach, sounds like he only lost one game during his tenure of 2 years, the details are in the ±«Óătv article, so yes, how rash of an action for a team do this?? The Elephants along with Ghana I believe easily qualified for the World Cup, dominated their group. Nigeria in fact, backed into the World Cup. Algeria got kind of a rough deal, I believe the official was giving Egypt way extra time (like the MUFC/Aston Villa a year or so ago) to get the 2nd goal to send that game into a playoff.

And now, managerless CIV lost to South Korea 2-0 in a friendly. Does not bode well and anyone thinking Hiddink is coming aboard will likely be disappointed.

It appears in both cases of Ivory Coast and Nigeria, there is a bowing to public pressure, the Nigerian case being somewhat well known and CIV much less read about.